(Frederica / Denmark) – The Danish energy company Ørsted A/S wants to build a large-scale plant for the production of green hydrogen in the catchment area of the Dutch-Flemish North Sea ports. An electrolysis facility with an output of one gigawatt is to be built by 2 under the name “SeaH2030Land”.
The region's major industrial companies such as ArcelorMittal, Yara, Dow Benelux and Zeeland Refinery support the development of the necessary regional infrastructure to sustainably produce steel, ammonia, ethylene and fuels. According to the information, green hydrogen could replace around 20 percent of the conventional hydrogen currently used.
With 580.000 tons per year, the North Sea port cluster is now one of the largest production and demand centers for fossil hydrogen in Europe. Driven by ongoing efforts to decarbonize some industrial operations, industrial demand there could rise to about 2050 tons by 1.000.000, equivalent to about XNUMX gigawatts of electrolysis, the company said.
The gigawatt electrolyzer is to be connected directly to a new offshore wind farm with an output of two gigawatts in the Dutch North Sea. This could be built in one of the zones in the southern part of the Dutch exclusive economic zone that have already been designated for the development of offshore wind farms.
Transporting hydrogen via pipeline
The companies operating in the region have joined forces to form an industrial partnership called Smart Delta Resources (SDR). Under this umbrella, they are seeking discussions with the transmission system operators in order to develop a regional and freely accessible pipeline network of around 45 kilometers in length, which extends across the North Sea port area from Vlissingen-Oost in the Netherlands to Ghent in Belgium. The electrolyzer should then be connected to the pipeline system.
Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara International ASA, in consortium with Ørsted, and Dutch Zeeland Refinery have each announced plans for medium-sized renewable hydrogen production at their sites. Dow Benelux, a regional subsidiary of the US chemical group Dow Chemical Company, has been supplying hydrogen to Yara since 2018 through a previously repurposed natural gas pipeline. The network could be expanded further south to the plant of the Luxembourg steel group ArcelorMittal and further north to the Zeeland Refinery.
Building electrolyzer capacity in two stages
The first phase of SeaH2Land includes 500 megawatts of electrolyzer capacity. The second phase, which will expand capacity to one gigawatt, requires the ability to “connect to a national hydrogen backbone to provide additional flexibility and storage,” said Ørsted. Several locations north and south of the Scheldt River, which crosses the region, have already been examined. However, the energy company cautions, such a project to produce renewable hydrogen in conjunction with large-scale offshore wind power and the development of regional infrastructure will only progress with the support of politicians and regulatory authorities.
If the project is realized as planned, Ørsted wants to develop both the offshore wind farm and the electrolyser. North Sea Port – the port that stretches 60 kilometers from Zeeland to Flanders – and Smart Delta Resources are to develop the regional infrastructure together with the provinces of Zeeland and Oost-Vlaanderen and in close cooperation with the transmission system operators.
deep link
https://orsted.com/en/media/newsroom/news/2021/03/451073134270788
www.SeaH2Land.nl/en
Photos
Project planning for gigawatt electrolysis and gigawatt wind farm / © Ørsted A/S
